Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi speaks at a ceremony of loyalists to mark 34 years of "people power" in Tripoli on March 2, 2011 during which he vowed to fight an uprising against his 41-year rule to "the last man, the last woman". (Getty Images)

As demonstrations continue around the Middle East, we keep you updated on the developing situation. Use this chart to keep up with all of the demonstrations, day by day.

We'll be marking time in Eastern Standard Time. Tunisia is six hours ahead, Egypt and Libya are seven hours ahead, Yemen and Iraq are eight hours ahead, and Oman is nine hours ahead. (See World Clock here.)

LIBYA: 11:43 p.m. (EET) / 4:43 p.m. (EST), Wednesday

We're signing off for the night, but we leave you with this photo of a rebel holding his ears as a bomb launched by a Libyan air force jet explodes in the desert near Brega today:

(REUTERS/Joel Silva/Folhapress)

Come visit us tomorrow for the latest developments. Thanks for being with us today.

LIBYA: 11:12 p.m. (EET) / 4:12 p.m. (EST), Wednesday

Libyan rebels beat back Gaddafi forces: Video

Libyan rebels repelled an assault by troops backing Moammar Gaddafi in a key oil port Wednesday. The battle in the town of Brega lasted for hours until the attackers beat a retreat. Watch:

LIBYA: 9:00 p.m. (EET) / 2:00 p.m. (EST), Wednesday

Protesters communicate through dating site

Gaddafi's government has intermittently blocked users from accessing Facebook and Twitter in the country or watched user accounts, so some Libyans have found innovative ways to communicate with fellow revolutionaries online.

Omar Shibliy Mahmoudi, a leader among the Libyan antigovernment protesters, set up a fake profile on popular Libyan dating site Mawada, ABC News reported.

Screen grab from dating site Mawada.

Mahmoudi says he "created a Mawada profile called 'Where Is Miriam?' and pretended to be on the hunt for a wife." Other protesters posed as women with names like Sweet Butterfly and Opener of the Mountain to get in touch with him, since the site does not allow men to message other men, Mahmoudi told ABC.

On the site, the anti-Gaddafi users used messages laced with revolutionary references to make initial contact with another user and gauge their support "May your day be full of Jasmine," for example, was used to talk about the Jasmine Revolution sweeping the region. They also communicated in more precise code: Five Ls in the phrase "I LLLLLove you" meant they had five people with them. The revolutionaries then had detailed follow-up conversations on text message and Yahoo Messenger.

LIBYA: 9:00 p.m. (EET) / 2:00 p.m. (EST), Wednesday

Libyans react strongly against foreign intervention

As two U.S. warships crossed into the Mediterranean and closer to Libya promising humanitarian relief while U.S. officials gave mixed messages about whether they were seriously considering a no-fly zone, Libyans reacted strongly against foreign intervention.

A Libyan oil worker works at a refinery inside the Brega oil complex in Brega, east of Libya, on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011. Production at Brega has dropped by almost 90 percent amid the country's crisis because many employees have fled and few ships are coming to offload the product. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi launched deadly air and ground assaults near a key oil port held by rebels in eastern Libya on Wednesday, sending panic through a part of the country where the opposition has seized control of many cities.

Although initial reports were sketchy, at least 14 people were reported killed in heavy fighting in and around the oil port of Brega, including in the town of Ajdabiya, 50 miles to the northeast of Brega.

Witnesses said a convoy of 60 trucks - filled with men armed with bazookas, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns - entered the area at dawn. Al Jazeera reported that the Libyan air force bombed the oil refinery and port, triggering huge plumes of smoke.

Pro-government forces launched shells at the rebels from a university campus, according to witness accounts. Opposition fighters armed with rifles, machetes and meat skewers tried to fight off the militias. A paramedic said 14 people were killed.

LIBYA: 5:29 p.m. (EET) / 10:29 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Clinton addresses Senate committee

LIVE NOW: Clinton addresses Senate committee:

LIBYA: 5:29 p.m. (EET) / 10:29 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Libya protest video "Join the Libyan army of demonstrators against the tyrant and mercenaries"

Screen grab

A Libyan Facebook group called "Uprising of February 17, 2011: To make it a day of anger in Libya," which has been instrumental in galvanizing support for the protests in Libya and has nearly 100,000 fans, posted a video Wednesday that purportedly showed members of the Libyan army fighting alongside the demonstrators.

The video, entitled "Join the Libyan army of demonstrators against the tyrant and mercenaries," got nearly 2,000 likes within an hour of its posting and nearly a hundred comments of support.

Watch it here. If you would like to see the comments translated, view it in Google Chrome. NOTE: The video contains violent imagery.

LIBYA: 5:29 p.m. (EET) / 10:29 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Live Q&A with a Libyan citizen

A Libyan citizen who studied in the U.S. and is now living in Tripoli will be online today, March 2, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the current situation in Libya. Send in your questions here.

LIBYA: 5:08 p.m. (EET) / 10:08 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Oil prices top $100 per barrel on Libya fears

Oil prices have topped $100 per barrel as the New York Mercantile Exchange opens for trading. Prices rose Wednesday morning as fighting escalated in Libya, a major oil exporter to Europe. Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pushed back against protestors in the eastern half of the country, battling for control of a key oil installation and an airstrip.

LIBYA: 5:03 p.m. (EET) / 10:03 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Two U.S. warships arrive in Mediterranean

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise transits the Suez Canal in Egypt in this February 15, 2011 handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy. The United States is moving warships and aircraft, including the USS Enterprise, into the Mediterranean Sea near Libya, according to U.S. officials. (REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jesse L. Gonzalez/Handout)

Two U.S. amphibious warships, the USS Ponce and the USS Kearsarge, passed through Egypt's Suez Canal on Wednesday and arrived in the Mediterranean, a canal official told Reuters. Read more here.

LIBYA: 3:47 p.m. (EET) / 8:47 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Yemen's president accuses U.S. of instigation

Yemen's embattled president on Tuesday accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum for his ouster. Watch:

LIBYA: 3:47 p.m. (EET) / 8:47 a.m. (EST), Wednesday

Reactions to Gaddafi's televised speech

Gaddafi concluded his televised speech after hitting the two hour mark, Al Jazeera reported. Gaddafi vowed to fight to the "last man and last woman" to defend his country, and spoke on Egypt, oil, and his own salary:

On Egypt: "Egypt now is nothing! There is no Egyptian in agreement with another! The military is helpless!"

On oil: "Undermining Libya's unity or oil wealth will lead to everyone bearing arms ... Oil is our bread and butter. We will die in its defense."

On his salary: "I am ready to have my accounts verified. My salary is only 465 dinars [approximately $380].... My wife's charity receives donations, which are channeled to needy causes in Africa. Sometimes these are channeled domestically."

Youth movement members, writers, and local Libyans reacted with derision to Gaddafi's speech.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi moved to recapture control of a key oil port in eastern Libya early Wednesday. It looked as if loyalist forces could reverse the tide of the opposition uprising.

Gaddafi also gave a televised public rally in the capital, Tripoli, Wednesday, denying the existence of protests in Libya and saying the power was in the "hands of the people".

This image broadcast on Libyan state television Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, shows Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi as he addresses the nation in Tripoli, Libya. (AP Photo/Libya State Television via APTN) (AP)

During the rally, Gaddafi said that he is not a president and so cannot resign his position, Al Jazeera reported. "The foreigners want Gaddafi to step down, to step down from what? Gaddafi is just a symbol for the Libyan people... This is how the Libyan people understood it," he said.

Gaddafi also reiterated the claim he made to journalist Christiane Amanpour that there were no protests happening in Libya. Gaddafi said it all started with sleeping terrorist cells taking over weapons and security stations and releasing prisoners from jails, Al Jazeera reported.

"These are criminals not political prisoners ... there are no political prisoners in Libya ... We had to destroy the weapons storages to prevent them from falling into the hands of the terrorists," he said.

Gaddafi also called on the United Nations and NATO to investigate what had happened in Libya, and the conspiracy to colonize Libya and seize its oil. He warned that "thousands of Libyans" will die if the U.S. or NATO intervene in his country.

IRAN: 4:16 p.m. (IRST) / 7:47 a.m. (EST, Wednesday

Police in Iran use teargas to disperse protestors

Iranian security forces clashed with demonstrators and shot tear gas Tuesday to break up a rally, an opposition Web site reported. The rally was in support of two opposition leaders who have been targeted in a new crackdown on anti-government protests.

Witnesses said large crowds marched along the main Enghelab (Revolution) Street, where large numbers of professional and voluntary security forces were stationed. As security forces fired tear gas at the demonstrators, protesters set fire to trash cans, witnesses said. Similar anti-government protests were reported in other cities across Iran.

Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Cartoons of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi (L) and U.S. President Barack Obama are placed next to a symbolic coffin of the U.S. during a protest in front of the United Nations' office in Tehran Feb. 27, 2011. (REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl)

Tunisia: Security forces kill 2 protestors in entire course of revolution, plus one journalist hit on head with CS canister.

US spokesman (Obama): "I condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens peacefully voicing their opinion in Tunisia, and I applaud the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people."

Iraq: Security forces kill 29 and wound dozens more with gunfire on first day. At least four different demonstrations were opened up on with lethal fire. Nationwide curfew imposed before the demonstrations could even start. 300 writers, journalists and govt critics rounded up and tortured with beatings and electric shocks.

US spokesman (Baghdad embassy): "Iraq's security forces generally have not used force against peaceful protesters."

America and its European stooges always bleat they want "democracy" but have not hesitated to commit mass murder and human rights violations when their wallets are at stake. What the US/NATO stooges really want is ruthless dictators that rule their countries with an iron fist, but only ones that have strategic geopolitical importance and abundant resources notably oil and which are friendly to the US. Which is why the US supported Mubarak the torturer for 30 years. Saddam was originally INSTALLED into power by the US who sent the CIA to assasinate his democratic and popular opponent and only stopped being a US ally when he nationalized his oil. Gadaffi is benign compared to some of the murdering dictators that America has established around the world. But Gaddafi is also cunning, he knows how to award loyalty, his military and business supporters get a generous share of the oil profits which is why he is able to stand up to this kind of rebellion fairly well. Freezing his assets was a huge mistake for the west. Just as in Iraq, their aim is to grab 100% of his oil and replace him with another undemocratic puppet regime that sold only to the west, but their plan is going to backfire. The US and its groveling European and Canadian clones who join in on military adventures for profits, do not have an ounce of democracy or decency and have virtually no moral platform to stand on.

Thank you for posting the secret site where the Libyan resistance has set up shop to communicate with anti-government protesters. And thank you too for decoding some of their secret codes!!! you idiots - who are you working for? is the war criminal Gaddafi paying you??? SHAME! how irresponsible!

Thank you for posting the secret site where the Libyan resistance has set up shop to communicate with anti-government protesters. And thank you too for decoding some of their secret codes!!! you idiots - who are you working for? is the war criminal Gaddafi paying you??? SHAME! how irresponsible!

Thank you for posting the secret site where the Libyan resistance has set up shop to communicate with anti-government protesters. And thank you too for decoding some of their secret codes!!! you idiots - who are you working for? is the war criminal Gaddafi paying you??? SHAME! how irresponsible!

Before the US or NATO intervenes militarily in Libya perhaps we should look to see who in the region now supports Ghaddafi. Is he supported by Syria, Saudi Arabia,Iran,Algeria, or other nations in the region who would come to his aid if he is attacked by the US or NATO?
It is pretty clear that Ghaddafi has substantial support in Libya but what about outside of the country? The last thing the US needs is another war. We can't handle the invasions of Iraq or Afghanistan. Iraq, as the US withdraws, will become an ally of Iran. That isn't good for the US. As the US is forced out of Afghanistan as it will eventually be who knows who will replace us. Whoever that is will be a US enemy. The US cannot continue to make enemies around the world.

We encourage users to analyze, comment on and even challenge washingtonpost.com's articles, blogs, reviews and multimedia features.

User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions.